The politics that started with Aryan’s drug case in Maharashtra has taken a new turn, which has increased the problems of Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik. Meanwhile, regarding the raid on 7 places of Waqf Board under Nawab Malik, Nawab Malik has said that it is a raid on a charity organization and he is not afraid of anyone. Now what is the matter of Waqf Board? And why questions are being raised on the timing of the raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate? Before understanding this, let us have a look at the present case.
What is the whole matter?
Actually, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the Waqf Board scam. The ED had raided seven places on Thursday after receiving complaints of rigging in the Waqf Board. Let us tell you that Maharashtra Waqf Board comes under Minister Nawab Malik, and now Nawab Malik has also reacted sharply to this. Nawab Malik held a press conference about this raid and said The raids were not conducted on the offices of Waqf Board, but on the offices of a trust in Pune district, named Tabut Inam Endowment Trust. This trust was transferred from the Charity Commissioner to the Waqf Board on 19 May 2009. The Waqf Act 1995 was implemented after the formation of the Aghadi government and de-registered all the organizations which were registered with the Charity Commissioner. There are reports in the media that now the ED will reach Nawab Malik’s house. If so, I would like to say that ED is welcome. Along with this he said that “Nawab Malik is not afraid of anyone, neither ED nor death.”
Nawab Malik, giving his side in a press conference, told that how his ministry is already investigating it, but questions are being raised about the timing of the way ED is investigating. The question is whether there are already cases of corruption in the Waqf Board, then has the ED suddenly woken up? That too when Nawab Malik is continuously attacking BJP.
What is Waqf Board?
The land or property given for the benefit of Muslims is called Waqf and the board keeps its account. This board has the power to acquire, retain or transfer property. These boards are formed within the purview of the judicial system and each state has its own Waqf Board with its own chairman.
The Waqf Board works according to the Waqf Act 1995, or rather, it also works like a trust, the only difference is that the trust has a larger scope, while the Waqf Board is limited to religious functions. The trust can be dissolved by its board if it wants, but it is not so with the Waqf Board.
old record of scams
The total assets of the Waqf Board in Maharashtra is 23,566. Government figures show that the Waqf Board in Maharashtra has a land of 37330 hectares and more than a thousand properties are illegally occupied by the Waqf Board.
Earlier this property was about 93,418 acres of Waqf land in Maharashtra, but most of the Waqf land in Maharashtra was lost either due to illegal transfer or encroachment. Tehrike Awkaf National President Shabbir Ahmed Ansari had also given a list of scams to the Maharashtra State Waqf Board in the month of October this year in connection with the monkey distribution of Waqf property in the state.
In 2017, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had also launched a probe into alleged irregularities in waqf land deals across the state. Then the state CID said that it was investigating all the waqf land deals as per the orders of the government, but no case was registered.
In another such case, the Pune city police had registered a case against Imtiaz Sheikh and Chand Mulani and four others in August. These accused had taken a DD of Rs 7 crore 76 lakh 98 thousand 250 from the district administration by showing the Waqf Board land as belonging to a trust and deposited this money in their personal account. This has also been mentioned by Nawab Malik in his press conference. This has also been mentioned by Nawab Malik in his press conference.
Big scam in the name of cheap rent
Let us tell you that the trusts associated with Waqf can also give this land on rent, but there have been allegations of wrongdoing in this too. For example, a property in Bhuleshwar was rented out to IndianOil for an annual rent of Rs 2,55,00,000, while the same property earlier fetched only Rs 2.5 thousand. This case came to the fore that how a big fraud was being run in the name of cheap rent.
Government investigation into land scam stalled
Similarly, in the year 2017, the Waqf land scam of Rs 2,500 crore came to the fore as the biggest waqf fraud in the state, whose revelations shocked everyone in the year 2017. However, the investigation in the matter could not be completed as the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) had put an interim stay on the probe into the matter. After this, the then CEO of the Waqf Board, Naseem Bano Patel, was suspended for misusing his post. In fact, in February 2016, a 55-acre Waqf property in Nashik was declared a non-Waqf property, which was later investigated and found guilty in the Naseem Bano Patel case.
ED under question
These are the cases which can come to the fore, but many such scams were suppressed and some were banned. There is already a list of scams in the property of Waqf land in Maharashtra, but the ED being active in this way raises questions. That too when the battle of Nawab Malik vs former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis is being seen in Maharashtra politics.
The brawl that started over the drugs case in Maharashtra turned into blasts of accusations and investigations and defamation notices. On one hand Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan has sent a legal notice to Devendra Fadnavis, while on the other hand Amrita Fadnavis has sent a legal notice to Nawab Malik. Now moving forward, it has come on the investigation of corruption and rigging going on in the state. More details are likely to be revealed in this matter in the coming days.
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